Chapter 5 - THE STEEL TRAP.
The naval shipyard was a desolate wasteland of rusted shipping containers and towering industrial cranes.
A thick, freezing fog rolled off the black water, swallowing the light from the few working streetlamps.
I killed the headlights on my sedan and parked in the shadow of an abandoned warehouse.
Slipping out into the freezing night, I drew the suppressed pistol from my thigh holster.
The silence of the yard was unnatural, broken only by the sound of water slapping against the concrete pylons.
I moved silently between the towering walls of corrugated steel, tracking a set of fresh tire tracks in the damp gravel.
Two armed mercenaries were standing near a bright red shipping container at the end of Pier 44.
They were smoking cigarettes, their assault rifles slung lazily across their chests.
My mother always hired professionals, but arrogance made everyone sloppy.
I crept up behind a stack of wooden pallets, perfectly concealed in the darkness.
Raising the pistol, I exhaled slowly and squeezed the trigger twice.
The suppressor coughed softly, and both guards collapsed to the gravel without a sound.
I didn't pause to check their pulses, advancing rapidly toward the red container.
The heavy steel doors were secured by a massive padlock, which I shot off with a precise blast.
I holstered my weapon, gripped the freezing metal handle, and hauled the heavy door open.
The hinges screamed in protest, revealing a pitch-black interior.
I pulled a tactical flashlight from my belt and swept the beam across the inside of the container.
There was no black SUV, no team of heavily armed kidnappers, and no Eleanor.
In the dead center of the empty floor sat Lily’s favorite stuffed rabbit, abandoned on the cold steel.
My breath hitched in my throat as I stepped forward to pick it up.
As my gloved hand brushed the soft fabric of the toy, the harsh glare of an overhead floodlight suddenly blinded me.
The massive metal doors of the shipping container slammed shut behind me with a deafening crash.
I spun around, drawing my weapon, but I was completely sealed inside a steel box.
From the darkness of the ceiling, a hidden speaker crackled to life.
"You were always so predictable, Evelyn," my mother's cold, calculating voice echoed through the metal chamber.
May you like
Before I could fire a shot at the speaker, the floor violently jerked beneath my boots.
The screeching sound of heavy machinery vibrated through the walls as the entire container was suddenly hoisted into the air.
